February 29, 2012

I took a big gamble with this dress recently. I bought it some time ago at a thrift store in Ventura (the same day I found this little belt with the carved-stone horse buckle!) and it fit pretty well for a while. It's so very old, I never wore it too much. A few years and a few pounds later it was relegated to the back of my closet, too big to wear, too costly to get altered. I finally said screw it and threw it in the washer and dryer with the rest of my laundry. Not only did it remain intact, it shrunk to the perfect size and now has a soft, wrinkled effect that makes it easier to wear for day. I should have done this much earlier! I don't like having clothes that require too much care, anyway...

These were taken on our way to the Grand Lake Farmers market in Oakland. It was super windy and sunny, perfect for people watching over a giant-ass cup of iced coffee...lots of crocs and puffer vests.

February 25, 2012

I had such a blast at the All Vintage Everything sale on Thursday night. It was hosted by Ashley and took place in the politically-charged-yet-laidback Submission Gallery (there's a poster of George W. Bush with a Hitler 'stache near the bathroom, and a neon 666 sign over the bar). I arrived early to help Rachel set up, and it was awesome seeing all the ladies setting out their frilly vintage wares in this gritty, semi anarcho-punk space. That sort of aesthetic tension makes me go a big rubbery one. They served Fancy Fine Gimlets and Mousevox Margaritas, which taste just like a regular gimlet or margarita, only these left a cuter aftertaste. I basically goofed around with Jen, Annalise and Isla the whole time, and came home with an awesome new Mousevox Vintage coat. Now I just have to wait for this damned gorgeous weather to go away before wearing it!

February 23, 2012

A few more pictures from ladies night, taken with my new 35mm camera that I bought from a guy selling junk on the sidewalk (always down to look upon a gypsy's wares). I'm still getting used to it, but I'm so pleased with the quality of the photos it produces. Best seven dollars I've ever spent.

February 22, 2012

Fancy Ashley was nice enough to take these photos during our little excursion to Japantown last week. I'm dying to go back, seeing as Pika Pika was closed that day, but I did pick up several giant bags of housewares and knick knacks from Daiso. I wore the latest additions to what I'll call the Creamery Section of my wardrobe. I love soft beige and peachy tones, and I'm always on the lookout for that perfect cream-colored dress / skirt / sweater. These are not them. There will be others, I promise you. I was going to title this post "Peaches n' Cream" but I've probably seen at least 100+ blog posts with that title. In the future, I'll have to start going deeper into my pun arsenal.

You can see a little bit of the manicure Sterling gave me (i.e., I let him go to town with a nail art pen).

February 20, 2012

A few pages from the first Hit City USA zine, designed by Sterling and featuring some of my photography. Hit City USA is an artist-run record label from Los Angeles. They're insanely cool kids and tight bros that we've had the pleasure of working with before, and I'm happy to have a toe-hold in my sun-drenched hometown, even a teeny bit, from afar...

The zine is printed on nice heavy cardstock and limited to to 100. You can get it here for only five bucks, or download a PDF of it for free!

February 18, 2012

I hope you're looking forward to more outfit posts chronicling my awkward journey into Getting Comfortable In Front of the Camera, because that is exactly what's going to happen here. I finally invested in my first digital camera (purchased gently-used from the lovely Isla). As I fiddle blindly with buttons and settings and whatnot I'm gaining a newfound respect for anyone who knows how to take a decent photo. After working exclusively with Polaroid and Instax film, it's nice to have a regular camera for documenting stuff.

*During my dark years working in high-end retail, near the end of a particularly soul-crushing day, I would rush to the break room and shout "Imma clock out with mah cock out!" Sometimes there was no time to excuse myself, so I'd just shout it in front of whatever customers were present.

February 15, 2012

I love colors. A lot. Maybe almost as much as I love socks. The extent of my love for both of these things scares me sometimes. I try not to wear black all the time, I think it's like...cheating at chic or something to wear all black all the time. I've been told I look striking in all black, which is a nice compliment, but if I did it all the time, it wouldn't be striking.

Ration the black.

I reeeeeally wanted to show of my new socks today, so to that end, I used black as a backdrop. I have a strange affinity for old skate graphics, especially the work that Jim Phillips did for Santa Cruz in the 80s. When I was in middle school, everyone wore Santa Cruz stuff—myself included, given that I had two older brothers. It was an especially good look for pushing mongo on my Shorty's Trix Rabbit board to get 7-11 hot dogs with my BFF. Anyway, Sterling found this book at a used bookstore some years ago, and it's some of the most mesmerizing, feel-good graphic inspiration I've encountered. The Screaming Hand might be Phillips' most ubiquitous graphic (it was originally a wheel design) and I'm so glad some company out there decided to slap it on some socks. There are certainly more dramatic means of showing one's appreciation.

February 14, 2012

The mister and I don't celebrate Valentines. Going through the motions on the one day of the year everyone else is trying to be sexy and romantic seems pointless. The last time I tried celebrating—many moons ago—I ended up cobbling together a last-minute gift for an ex that I was kind-of-sort-of seeing again but for whom I didn't buy anything because I didn't want to make assumptions. He casually called me up on Valentines and asked me to come over because he just had a little something he wanted to give me. Slightly touched but completely annoyed, I stopped by a florist on the way over with the intention of making a bouquet of half red roses and half yellow roses, which in itself was a pretty good indication of my waffling over the whole relationship. I opted to neglect this sign.

Naturally, the florist was stripped bare. The only roses he had left were pre-made bundles of red or yellow ones. I begged him to make me a half-n-halfer, but he insisted that there was no such thing. "These are all pre-made, you see. If you break them up, it's like ruining two bouquets."
"No it's not. Just take a little from here and a little from there and it'll be fine. It'll be better than fine! People do half red half yellow all the time!"
"I can't help you" he said "you just have to choose one or the other."
"No no!" I pleaded "you can have both, you can! I can make it work! I mean youcan make it work!"
We argued for a bit longer, me eventually coming to tears because he was merely talking about roses and I was clearly talking about something else.

So nuts to all that. Thankfully though, I have rediscovered the joys of Valentines Day as a ladytime holiday. On Friday night, Rachel, Ashley, Kathleen, Jen and Annalise and I had a girls-only lingerie party at Jen's apartment. There was a brief period of cheeky photo-ops, but the evening quickly settled into talking about guys over gin and pink-lemonade cocktails. We even pranked called Isla and played Never Have I Ever.

I look a lot more photos on my 35mm camera, but those will have to wait until I get them back from the photolab...and explicit approval from all involved ; )

February 8, 2012

Sorry for the lack of updates. I had some meetings and cool posts all planned and then BLAM out of nowhere I got mind-blastingly sick. Slowly getting better. Catching up on schoolwork and such. Back soon.